Around Easter, while a large chunk of you were enjoying the festivities of Forbes, we decided to do a last minute trip to Adelaide, as I'd never been. So, with a quickly loaded up bus, the kids thrown in the back and the dog dumped at my Dad's, we fired up the freshly built engine and roared into life. With no real travel plan in mind, just the open road and a vague idea of where we wanted to go, we hit the road. Just the way I like it. The first stop was an unexpected river crossing at Wellington, heading towards Victor Harbour. With some slight trepidation and a lot of excitement, we eased onto the ferry and cruised across. After a several slight detours from a geographically challenged GPS and co-driver, and daylight dwindling, we pulled tiredly into the campsite after 9 hours on the road. Day 1 down and we all pulled up well, except for the GPS. That was banned for the rest of the trip. The next morning we arose slowly, a quick coffee and breakfast and then ready to explore the town. A bit of lunch and exploring the local history, a chat to the info centre and we were on our way again, not to Adelaide as planned, but to Kangaroo Island. A quick shopping stop to stock up on some essentials (ie. beer because I left mine at home in my hurry to get out on the open road), a short drive to Cape Jervis and we loaded onto the ferry and away we went.
After the ferry ride over, about an hour or so, we made our way to Kingscote for the night. It was along this drive I saw our one and only alive kangaroo, there were plenty of dwindling light, dusk time victims amassed on the sides of the road but alas, no more frolicking natives to be seen to acknowledge the islands namesake. Two nights in and setting up and unpacking was getting into a smooth rhythm. Who says 5 can't live in a Kombi together? The morning of our first day on KI was hitting up the local Honey Farm and the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery, where their mascot Emu took a fancy to our Hula girl. I also found a recipe book, that going by the amount of copies for sale was proving to be popular amongst both the residents and visitors of KI. I here that the "Skippy the Bush Vindaloo" is to die for.
Heading off from the Oil Distillery, we headed down one of the many dirt roads to meet up with the main strip to continue our journey. It was along these long, dusty, bone shaking dirt roads that I silently questioned my co-drivers navigating abilities. I feel I may have been too harsh on our prematurely abandoned GPS system and wrongly sentenced it to a life of glove box neglect. After what seemed like hours of teeth chipping, rattle inducing, stomach churning fun, we finally found bitumen. We swear that we shook out 40 years worth of rattles, bedding everything back into place. The road has never sounded so quiet as we cruised in our steel chariot. We also vowed never to turn down a dirt road again. The afternoon was spent observing and frolicking with the seals on the aptly named Seal Bay, or as close to frolicking as you can get with a wild animal. After our seal experience, we made another mad dash in the dwindling light to the next campsite, hoping to avoid picking up some unfortunate Vindaloo for dinner. Parked up safely for the night and we had the pleasure of some more local fauna.
The last few days were spent exploring the many attractions on the island. The Remarkables were exactly that. One of my favourite places that I've been too in a long time. It felt like we'd stepped into a Dali picture. The place is truly amazing and magical in my opinion.
Vivonne Bay was a beautiful place to park up for the afternoon. We had the entire beach all to ourselves. The water was clear and crisp, the sand soft between your toes. The eldest was quick to take advantage and did a nudie run in between getting on his bathers. I'll not post those pics as this is a family forum but I'll keep them safely tucked away for his 21st. There really was no better way to spend the afternoon. Afternoon snags by the beach cooked in a Kombi. Gotta love Australia.
The last day on KI was spent checking out Admirals Arch and going sand boarding. The pics don't do justice of the rock formation and the true force of nature that swells up from the southern ocean and crashes into those rocks. Or the expansiveness of the sand dunes that spread across the island. It really has left a lasting impression on me and made for a unexpected memorable trip. For those who have never been, Kangaroo Island is definitely a destination worth checking out. Our last few days of holiday fun were spent exploring the wonderful Adelaide, beaches around Glenelg, Haigh chocolate factory and the German town of Hahndorf (below). I went to South Oz with little to no expectations (or planning) of what we would find and was completely amazed and blown away by it's picturesque natural beauty and laidback lifestyle. It has etched a special place in my heart and I look forward to revisiting and exploring more of this great and fascinating southern land.
We did 650 klm around KI in late April. Found it to be dry and brown as most of SA is at that time of year, still scenic and very peaceful. Made it to lighthouses at east,west and a south points. Some rough roads, mainly corrogations, especially towards the western end. Thought the ferry charges were high, probably won't go again in the short term now that we have done it. Had been on our list of places to go for many years. Neil
I hope the kids have fond memories of traveling in the kombi when they grow up. That's the plan anyway. I know I will.
We just missed crossing paths, we were there the start of April. Have to agree that the ferry across is expensive but the memories will outlast the sting of paying for it.
Just beautiful......... thank you so much for sharing what is without a doubt, a very special family time. You have discovered my favourite place on this planet. The Kombi gods appear to have shone upon you and yours, as the weather looks perfect and no wind. The ferry is expensive....... but the memories...... priceless! JD in Adelaide
Thanks for the tour. Did a similar run after a trip to Tassie. Navigator said turn left from the ferry. Have to love remarkable rocks.
Awesome trip. Thanks for sharing. I do tend to agree GPS's are only good as speedos - not great navigators.
Agree. Though I have a Garmin Nuvi 52 with topo maps installed and it has proved to be great at navigating to a camp site. In Tassie recently I input the coordinates from wikicamps to a few of the more remote sites and it took us right there. In one case though it took us on the shortest route which did involve some firetrails which did not require 4WD. Apart from that I depend on it all the time for navigating. Ian
Great photos thanks for sharing. The kids will always remember that holiday.......... and 20 years down the track will hopefully buy an old kombi and do it again Jim
